Champions champion
- Updated: November 26, 2020
Collinsville puts together a strong second half, then holds off a late Handley rally to win Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic; Tatum named MVP
Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic
Alexandria 48, Hokes Bluff 37
Spring Garden 50, Jacksonville 38
Oxford 52, Ohatchee 50
Championship Game
Collinsville 57, Handley 53
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
The Big Red Machine of Class 2A is back on track … or at least it’s getting there.
It raised more than a few eyebrows in the community when defending 2A girls state champion Collinsville opened the new basketball season with back-to-back losses against some pretty stout competition, but the Lady Panthers weren’t panicking.
It’s a new year, with different players defining and adjusting to different roles. And besides, every season is different. Still, the two losses after two games were only one less than they had the entirety of last season.
But they took a big step towards getting back on track Wednesday, winning the Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic for the second year in a row, beating Handley in the championship game for the second year in a row, 57-53.
“I don’t even know that’s really important,” Lady Panthers coach Jon Tidmore said. “I guess what’s more important is it started off a little bit rocky – Rogers beat us, Skyline beat us, on the road in close games – and it kind of seems like we’re finding our identity and it’s a different identity than last year. So that’s exciting.”
The Lady Panthers (4-2) had collected their first win of the season before coming to the Alexandria facility, so it wasn’t like they were coming in oh-fer and needed a good showing to get back to .500. But they swept through the bracket anyway, beating Jacksonville, Oxford (which upset reigning 1A champion Spring Garden in the opening round) and then the Lady Tigers by an average of 15 points.
“I think you’re seeing growth, definitely,” Tidmore said.
Sophomore forward Tyla Tatum was named tournament MVP. Besides scoring 20 points (13 in the second half), she was credited with helping the Lady Panthers handled the quickness and pressure Handley was putting out while rallying late in the game, particularly after Hadley Hamilton left with a “hopefully little” leg injury.
“I feel like winning the tournament was a real confidence booster for us because we played two really good teams our first two games,” Tatum said. “We knew going into this season we’d have a lot of adversity and coach Tidmore just talked to us about it. He’s like, ‘y’all got it, you just got to be who we know we are.’”
The championship game was a rematch of last year’s tournament final, but it was a lot more dramatic. Handley rallied from 13 down midway through the fourth quarter to get within three with less than a minute to play and again in the final 10 seconds.
Collinsville built its big lead by coming out of the halftime locker room and not missing a shot. The Lady Panthers hit all eight of their shots in the third quarter, stretching a 19-18 halftime lead to 38-29 and ultimately 13 of their first 15 to get that 13-point lead. Five of those shots were 3-pointers, including a four-point play by Tatum.
“We’re usually a pretty consistent shooting team,” Tatum said. “When we’re hitting shots we’re hard to beat because we have some really good shooters, especially Hadley. She got hurt, that was scary. I hadn’t noticed it and I was like ‘Where’s 5?’ and I turned around and she wasn’t over there and I was like, ‘oh boy,’ because she’s who we look for whenever we need a shot. She’s always there.”
Speaking of shooting, if Handley could have had any kind of success from the free throw line the outcome may have been different. The Lady Tigers were 1-for-7 from the line in the first half and 7-of-19 for the game. To make matters worse, leading scorer Teanna Watts was held scoreless in the first half.
But the Lady Tigers got on their game and put together a 13-3 rally that got them within three with 45 seconds to go. Watts’ basket with 10 seconds left made it 56-53. Tatum hit the front end of a one-and-one with 8.5 seconds left, missed the second and Handley rebounded, but couldn’t get a shot to fall at the other end.
“I tried to use those two losses from them last year to have a little bit of fire and preach revenge a little bit,” Handley coach Courtney Strain Screws said. “The positivity from the game is we went down 11 or 12 at one point and we could have very easily laid over and quit and we did not.
“That’s a testament to my kids. That’s hard, especially that late in a game when you go down that much. The negative thoughts start creeping into your mind, but they continue to fight and I told them as long as they still have fight left in them then we’ve got something to work with.”
Oxford edged Ohatchee 52-50 for third place in the tournament. The Lady Jackets used a 12-1 fueled by Justice Woods and Lauren Ellard to open a 13-point lead with less than 10 seconds left in third quarter. Ohatchee answered with 14 straight points to take a 42-40 lead with 4:25 left in the game.
It was tied again at 44 with 2:40 to play. It was a 52-50 game on Tori Vice’s two free throws with 51 seconds left. The Yellow Jackets missed a free throw, Ohatchee rebounded, but the Lady Indians couldn’t get a couple shots by Morgan Foushee to fall as the horn sounded.
MVP Tatum and Hamilton were joined on the all-tournament team by Watts, Ashley Phillips (Alexandria), Ace Austin (Spring Garden), Kayla Broom (Jacksonville), Lauren Ellard (Oxford) and Jorda Crook (Ohatchee).
This story will be updated. Check back soon. To see photos from the Oxford-Ohatchee game visit gunghophotos.com
Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic Box Scores
Alexandria 48, Hokes Bluff 37
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 7 6-11 22, Jordyn Walker 2 3-5 9, Maddie Ritchie 0 0-0 0, Sarah Pelham 1 0-0 3, Kailey Dickerson 0 0-0 0, TyShica Woodgett 1 3-7 5, Jill Cockrell 0 0-0 0, Chloe Gattis 4 0-3 9, Aubrey Christian 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 12-26 48.
HOKES BLUFF – Charly Robinson 2 0-3 5, Maddie Smith 3 3-5 9, Reece Hawks 0 0-2 0, Halle Davenport 0 0-0 0, Ava Dodd 1 0-2 3, Kileigh Blackwell 5 5-6 17, Chloe Rule 2 0-3 4. Totals 13 8-21 37.
Alexandria 10 7 17 14 – 48
Hokes Bluff 12 12 6 7 – 37
3-point goals: Alexandria 6 (Phillips 2, Walker 2, Pelham, Gattis); Hokes Bluff 3 (Robinson, Dodd, K. Blackwell). Fouled out: K. Blackwell. Total fouls: Alexandria 17, Hokes Bluff 21. Officials: Warren, Morris, Caldwell. Notes: Alexandria’s Ashley Phillips scored 16 points in the second half.
Spring Garden 50, Jacksonville 38
SPRING GARDEN –Neely Welsh 6-12 4-5 16, Lexy Adkison 3-14 2-2 10, Maggie Jarrett 5-5 0-0 10, Ace Austin 3-9 1-2 8, Sarah Kate McKay 3-5 0-0 6, Abby Steward 0-3 0-0 0, Abbie Woods 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 7-9 50.
JACKSONVILLE –Kayla Broom 7-14 3-4 19, Ashley Grant 2-5 1-1 6, Amiyah Buchanan 2-5 1-1 5, Maggie Anderson 1-6 0-0 3, Bree Edmonson 1-1 0-0 3, Amarie Curry 1-4 0-0 2, Rebekah Gannaway 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-38 5-6 38.
Spring Garden 18 10 17 5 – 50
Jacksonville 5 10 15 8 – 38
3-point goals: Spring Garden 3-17 (Welsh 0-1, Adkison 2-7, Austin 1-6, Steward 0-3); Jacksonville 5-17 (Broom 2-6, Grant 1-4, Anderson 1-4, Edmonson 1-1, Curry 0-1, Gannaway 0-1). Rebounds: Spring Garden 28 (Austin 7, Welsh 6); Jacksonville 24 (Buchanan 7). Technical fouls: Jacksonville coach Buzan. Total fouls: Spring Garden 8, Jacksonville 14. Notes: Spring Garden’s Austin also had 8 assists, 5 steals. The Lady Panthers scored 21 points off Jacksonville’s 16 turnovers.
Oxford 52, Ohatchee 50
OXFORD (6-2) –Justice Woods 4 2-4 11, Xai Whitfeld 3 4-5 10, Lauren Ellard 4 1-2 9, LaMya McGrue 3 2-4 8, Keleah Taylor 3 3-5 9, Emma McCullough 0 0-0 0, Lisa Montgomery 1 1-1 3, Keziah Mickler 0 0-0 0, Jamea Gaston 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 13-21 52.
OHATCHEE –Gracyn Snow 0 2-2 2, Tori Vice 4 7-10 16, Morgan Foushee 0 0-0 0, Gracie George 3 0-0 6, Millie Rainwater 1 0-0 2, Jorda Crook 8 6-8 22, Alyssa Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 15-20 50.
Oxford 9 16 15 12 – 52
Ohatchee 10 12 8 20 – 50
3-point goals: Oxford 1 (Woods); Ohatchee 1 (Vice). Fouled out: Vice. Total fouls: Oxford 20, Ohatchee 17. Note: Ohatchee’s Crook had 16 rebounds.
Championship Game
Collinsville 57, Handley 53
HANDLEY –Ariana Kyles 4 3-4 11, Jamiya Heard 1 0-2 2, Teanna Watts 5 1-6 11, Grace Rittenhouse 6 0-0 13, Takeriauna Mosley 2 0-1 5, Emelia Askew 3 3-6 9, Shaniah Allen 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 7-19 53.
COLLINSVILLE – Tyla Tatum 8 3-6 20, Kayla Beene 2 0-0 6, Caroliine Brannon 2 2-2 6, Hadley Hamilton 3 1-2 8, Olivia Akins 2 2-5 6, Cadence Amison 2 0-0 4, Emma Terrell 2 2-4 7. Totals 21 10-19 57.
Handley 9 9 14 21 – 53
Collinsville 10 9 19 19 – 57
3-point goals: Handley 2 (Rittenhouse, Mosley); Collinsville 5 (Serrell, Beene 2, Hamilton, Tatum). Fouled out: Heard. Total fouls: Handley 19, Collinsville 16.
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